These are perilous times for public servants, but your faithful local government officials persist.

Peoria County Board

The Peoria County Board met May 8 with Members Rob Reneau, Marcia McCann and Dan Kelch absent.

On a 14-1 vote, the board approved a zoning request in Kickapoo Township for an Ameren 2.5 megawatt solar farm to serve 420 homes and businesses. It is the first solar farm in the county with battery storage, and returns Ameren to its former role as a power generating company in Illinois.

Recent law permits Ameren to have generating solar farms in the East St. Louis and Peoria areas.

A zoning request by Wildlife Prairie Park to establish a 40-space RV park and campground on its property west of Taylor Road was approved unanimously.

On a 12-2-1 vote (Brian Elsasser and Steve Rieker were in opposition; Paul Rosenbohm abstained), the board approved a $6.7 million contract with CORE Construction for renovations to the Courthouse Plaza and block. Unanimously approved was a $64,000 contract with Western Specialty Contractors for Courthouse exterior repairs and cleaning.

Retiring Regional Superin-tendent Beth Crider and Supervisor of Assessments Dave Ryan were recognized and Treasurer Nicole Bjerke will be recognized when she retires in July. Their replacements were unanimously approved: Dr. George McKenna as Regional Superintendent, Chad Jones as Supervisor of Assessments, and Braden Martin as Treasurer.

The unanimously approved consent agenda includes:

• A $596,000 2025-2026 Adult Redeploy Illinois Problem Solving Courts Grant, and awarding adult probation services to Trillium Place-Human Service Center.
• A three-year collective bargaining agreement between the county and Fraternal Order of Police, as well as $180,000 for wage increases.
• A three-year contract between the county and OSF Occupational Health.
• A $100,000 contract with N. E. Finch to improve the Rock Island Trail crossing on Cedar Hills Drive.
• An $88,000 contract with Standard Heating and Cooling to replace the Highway Dept. office HVAC system

The meeting concluded with an executive session to discuss personnel matters.

Election Commission

The Peoria County Board of Election Commissioners held their regular monthly meeting June 10, with all present except Matt Bartolo.

Executive Director Elizabeth Gannon reported mailing new voter registration June 13. If a card cannot be delivered, the post office is to return it so voter registration rolls remain current.

Information is being sought about new software for voter registration and election management. The current software has been used since 2012. Gannon wants to see what is available.

Work has begun on the 2026 budget to be presented at the July 14 meeting. It is due to Peoria County on July 15.

Peoria City Council

On May 6, a special meeting was held to swear in the Mayor and newly elected City officials, seat the new City Council and act on business items. All council members were present except Kiran Velpula.

Under Township business, Trustee Charles Grayeb moved to receive and file the official results of the April 1 election. This passed unanimously.

Council approved $199,200 in 2025 Neighborhood mini-grant applications, funded with American Rescue Plan Act dollars. Community Development Director Joe Dulin reported 65 applications have been received for items such as events, gardens, and repairs.

Outgoing City Treasurer Chet Tomczyk and outgoing Councilor Grayeb were recognized for their service. Newly elected officials include Alex Carmona, District 2 Councilor, City Treasurer Jim Montelongo, and Township Assessor Andrew Couri.

On May 13, all members were present for the regular meeting.

The consent agenda passed with two items pulled for discussion. In the first, City Manager Patrick Urich explained funding for combined sewer overflow projects required by Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. An additional $5 million loan is needed for year 4 of the 18-year funding agreement. Costs include installation of ADA ramps, soil conditions and inflation.

The second item involves licensing tobacco businesses. It was explained this should provide councilors with more discretion in granting licenses.

Both items passed.

Council approved $41,196 in tax increment financing funds from the Edwards Coal-Fire Plant Settlement to complete PeoriaCorps workforce development within the TIF district.

After comparison with local communities and industry standards, towing fees were increased. Towing a vehicle in the city to clear an accident scene was raised from $150 to $200 and a mileage fee of 7$5 per mile will the charged. The last change was in 2019.7Council Zach Oyler moved to reconsider the 1% grocery tax approved April 22, saying three councilpersons were not available for the vote. Motion died for lack of a second. Councilors who were not at April meeting were unable to second the motion.

City Clerk Stephanie Tarr encouraged people to visit the timeline of historical elections and city government changes which will be displayed on the fourth floor for the next several months.

Tri-County Regional Planning Commission

On May 7, new mayors from Peoria Heights and Washington were announced as members.

Discussion on HR issues included parental leave policy, salary schedule and cost-of-living adjustments. Staff has
full-time equivalents.

Commissioners voted on agreement with Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) and CityLink to complete a bus stop inventory and analysis. The City of Peoria is also doing an inventory of its bus stops. They will now coordinate.

TCRPC received a grant to do the work two years ago. CityLink is required to give such a report to IDOT.

Dunlap District 323

On May 7, at a special school board meeting, re-elected Andrew Tyra and Tom Feldman and newly elected Youssef Boudjarane, Mick Hall, and Nicolas Yemm were installed as board members.

It was announced the April school board election had the highest voter turnout of any board elections. Hall said that the number of votes cast increased by 18%.

New board officers are: Tom Feldman, President; Andrew Tyra, Vice President; and Mick Hall, Secretary. Completing the current board are incumbents Theresa Holhouser and Tim Wagenbach.

On May 14, a second special meeting was held to discuss the new athletic training facility. Considerable discussion included finances and size of the building. A motion was made to spend up to an additional $4 million to expand the build-ing to include a 200-meter indoor track and perhaps move the facility. This would delay construction, which has begun. The motion passed with a vote of 5-1. Contractors are currently at work, costing the district about $2,000 per day.

On May 21, seven members were present at the regular school board meeting.

During public participation, people expressed concerns about the need for another full-time counselor, for correct classroom placement of students with autism, and for renovation of the swimming pool.

Action items approved include the construction management contract for Wilder-Waite and non-certified staff raises. Administrator salary adjustments were approved 5-1. Before the closed session, President Feldman announced the board will now tell the public what topics would be discussed in closed session. This complies with the Open Meetings Act. For this session, the topics were employee matters, discipline, collective bargaining, purchase of property, and litigation.

The regular meeting adjourned at 6:30 p.m., followed by closed session.

ICC Board of Trustees

On May 15, llinois Central College Board of Trustees met. In attendance were Gale Thetford, Alma Brown, Cindy Byrd, Carl Cannon, Daniels, Kim Armstrong, Ron Budzinski, Esther David.

A trustee retreat was scheduled for June 18.

Legislative committee report: A deal was struck between state universities and community colleges to propose a community college baccalaureate bill. The bill has not yet been presented to the Illinois House or Senate. Conceptually, the bill will include an approval process that will take two years. Community colleges will be grouped into newly drawn regions, with each region offering 4-7 baccalaureate programs and each college offering no more than two transfer-type programs.

A report on college completion rate says 54% of all Illinois community college transfer students graduate from a baccalaureate program.

President Report: Graduates have earned 2,389 credentials this year. They range in age from 17 to 75. Among these:

• 202 graduates have a grade point average of 3.75 or higher, including 63 with a perfect 4.00.
• 703 graduates earned transfer degrees.
• 1,590 earned applied workforce degrees and/or certificates.
• 113 graduates received more than one degree/certificate
• 11 graduates are high school students from Peoria Public Schools, Dunlap, Eureka and Washington graduating simultaneously with both a high school degree and ICC diploma.

Approximately 470 graduates registered to walk at graduation, an increase of 100 participants.

The women’s softball team was going to the Community College World Series and the golf team is ranked fifth in the nation. The national championship for each program was to be in June.

Treasurers Report: Revenue is down and will drop further in the next couple of months because of property replacement taxes. Tuition revenues are above projections, but do not offset the loss. Expenses are trending positively and will also help offset revenue losses.

The board moved into closed session.

Airport Authority

On April 30, board members of the Metropolitan Airport Authority of Peoria met at General Wayne A. Downing Airport. Six of the nine commissioners were present: Kevin Shields, Emily Shields, Dean Heinzmann, Stephen Roehm, Karen Jensen, and Aaron Gunn.

The board approved the minutes of the March 26 board and April committee meetings.

Director of Finance and Administration Steve Perrone reported construction on roads around the airport has begun, and gave the financial report. Highlights include:

• UPS is closing some of its operations.
• Grant fees are down.
• Concessions are up, especially car rental, ad space, and terminal rental.

Some staff expenses are up: there are now 11 shuttle drivers, building maintenance has 24/7 coverage, Illinois minimum wage increased. There have been increases in equipment, aviation fuel and utilities.

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